4-1-0 record - 19 goals for - 10 goals against 5/15 on power play 17/18- on penalty kill

REPORT CARD

Offense

DL: Offense remains on point but pulled a stinker against New Jersey. Despite the loss to a much improved Devils team, the Flyers responded well on offense and continue to bury the puck. Andreas Nodl – one goal shy of 10 – would be the ninth Flyer to reach double-digits in goals, and that is just sick. Their offense is firing on all cylinders – and what’s even scarier is the Flyers are looking for an upgrade to play with Mike Richards

Grade: B+

MT: I’m in full agreement with Dustin on this one. Johan Hedberg really came up big against the Flyers’ offense in the team’s 3-1 loss. Aside from that, the team had 18 goals in their other four games. To see the impressive nature of the team’s offense thus far, all one has to do is look at the league leaders in goals scored. The Flyers headed into the All Star break leading the NHL in that category, with 174. The second highest total is Detroit, with 166.

Grade: A

Defense

DL: The return of Chris Pronger helped this defense immensely, but to be honest, the defense played pretty darn good without him in the lineup. The Flyers defensive scheme continues to keep shot totals low for opposing teams and the D is limiting chances for their goalkeeper.

Grade: A

MT: In the last five games, the team has only allowed more than two goals once, and New Jersey’s third goal was of the empty net variety. Pronger’s return was a huge boost for the defense, but the man who filled in for him when he was gone remains the story. Andrej Meszaros tallied in back to back games, including his overtime game winner against the Caps.

Grade: A

Goaltending

DL: Bobrovsky is back to the Bobrovsky of November. His lateral movement and flexibility is amazing and he hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a game for almost two weeks. He’s been flat-out good, and at the moment would be my starter heading into the Playoffs.

Bob’s Grade: A
Boucher’s Grade: C

MT: Bobrovsky impressively stole the show in Chicago by out-dueling Corey Crawford in NBC’s first televised game of the season. After rebounding from a ‘rookie wall’, he’s been nothing short of spectacular. Brian Boucher only played in one of the last five games, the loss to New Jersey. He was pretty solid, but Patrik Elias’ game-winning goal was soft to say the least.

Bob’s Grade: A
Boucher’s Grade: C+

Special Teams

DL: The power play has looked really good some nights, but for the most part, really bad. It’s time to shake things up one way or another. I’m liking the penalty kill but part of methinks it could soon be time to give Richards and Giroux a break – but maybe not.

Grade: C+

MT: In the victory over Montreal, the team notched three power play goals for the first time since October 26th v. Buffalo. While the glimpses of success have been nice, the team must be more consistent. The penalty kill went 16/17 over the last five, so that evens out the special teams’ overall grade.

Grade: B

THE MVP

DL: Sergei Bobrovsky has been on point. There are about five forwards to pick from for this award, but I will give it to Bob. He’s back to being a Calder Trophy favorite.

MT: Jeff Carter. Yes, you read that correctly. With six points in his last five games, he seems to be hitting his stride. Most impressively, he dropped the gloves against Ottawa to stick up for Giroux. He deserves some ‘dap’ for that.

STEP IT UP

DL: Nik Zherdev. After going pointless in four – he stepped it up big-time with Carter and Giroux on Sunday in Chicago. Now fans can see what he’s capable of night-in and night-out. Let’s do it on a more consistent basis, Nikky.

MT: For the second week in a row, Andreas Nodl. With the Flyers possibly looking for an upgrade at one of the forward positions, Nodl’s spot seems most likely to be upgraded. If the team makes a move without trading a current roster player, Nodl will need to prove he belongs in the lineup over Daniel Carcillo and Jody Shelley on the fourth line.

THREE STARS

Three stars to the best player of the week, two to the second best, one star to the third.

Three stars for Giroux.
Two stars for Bobrovsky.
One star to James van Riemsdyk.

Great job by both of you. I completely agree with what you said about Nodl. I really like him, but he has to show more drive. Right now Carcillo looks like he deserves the fourth line spot more. Nodl needs to take a page from Zherdev and step up his game.